I think a competitive challenge is a great idea. The last man standing contest over at conceptart.org turns out some amazing work. My only problem with elimination rounds is that the people who need practice and portfolio pieces the most end up knocked out after their first entry. I wonder if there is a format we could do where everyone participates in several rounds, and then there is a final round to determine the overall winner._________________artpad.org

Ok so here's my idea. It's based on a winners/losers bracket system. This model is assuming there's 12 participators. Each round, there's a new theme, or a continuous theme just a different approach each round. Erm. Hope it's not too confusing. What do you guys think?

Nice system Only concern I have is that you'd have to commit to several deadlines before deciding to participate, which at least for me could be a bit more difficult...
I loved the last Weightless competition, even though this would be more fun to follow if enough participants decide to join!

haha glad you guys like the plan. seems like we have a lot of people interested.

sooooo who wants to take lead in organizing it? I can help with the chart and randomizing the who vs who for the first round, but I'm not capable being on top of votes and such. Er, I could try, but if someone else is up for it, it would be better.

How are we going to make the voting system? PMs? Are we going to make a topic for each round? Are the people posting their pictures or just sending them in per PM?

Just some questions flying around in my head...
I guess a PM based voting would be ok, if the voting is opened when all the pictures from one round are done. So that people are sending in their winners for every match in that round._________________My Flickr Account

I think if you are going to go with an open "theme" competition, you should simply start a 'X' Challenge Finished Entries thread, with voting by PM AFTER the closing date for entries, for 7-10 days. While this may swamp your PMs, it will only be for a set time period, and this way, people won't vote and then want to vote again if someone posts an entry they like better.

So, what possible topics are we looking at?_________________Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

Okay I guess I’ll go ahead and organize the matches, schedules etc…I just won’t be allowed to vote because I’d like to participate as well. I suppose an emphasis on illustration rather than looser sketching (speedpainting?) is preferred for the entries.

At the end of each round, everyone send me the final image at no1is_real@hotmail.com or PM. The final image will then be posted next to the opponent’s image in a community thread (not created yet..) in the finished works section. (or let me know if you want to do open posts to see everyone else’s work before the round ends etc..)

If your opponent is a no show, then you automatically win towards the winners bracket.

Then there is a round of pm voting, in the form of a list. For example send me a list like this;

If you are not on the list and would like to join, please act now. August 4th is the deadline to enter so I can make the first bracket chart. (Which will be randomly generated by computer)

As for themes, I looked around at random illustrations and jotted down their themes. Some are specific and some aren’t, let me know what kinds of themes you would like. We can just vote on a theme every round, instead of choosing them all ahead of time. Also, with 18 people on board, there will be more rounds than illustrated in my chart.

Who votes for the winners? Just the people in the contest, or everyone at Sijun? If it's everyone, why not just use the poll? If everyone is voting, I don't see the harm in letting people vote for themselves. They'll just cancel each other out.